The Congress is willing to call it an alliance. "Why should we play hide and seek," said Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury in Kolkata on Tuesday. The Left Front on Monday declared it was not an alliance, not a joint venture they were entering into with Congress. "You can call it an understanding," said CPM leader and Left Front chief Biman Bose. The same evening the Left Front announced a partial list of candidates -- for 116 seats out of 294.